"In the Louisiana Senate race we have the opportunity to send a true conservative and a real warrior to join that fight, Palin said. "So, today I am lending my support to retired Col. Rob Maness for U.S. Senate."

Palin said that Maness, a retired Air Force colonel and former Entergy official, is the "admitted underdog" in the race, led by incumbent Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge.

"Having spent his career in uniform, he does not have deep pockets or lobbyist connections to fund his campaign," Palin said. "To me, it's a blessing, not a curse that he's not held office before. After all, our founders weren't politicians - many of them in fact were military leaders. Maybe it's time we got back to those roots."

Palin criticized Landrieu for "still to this day" saying she would vote for the Affordable Care Act again. And she questioned whether Cassidy, a physician and the choice of the Republican establishment, "is the best we can do."

Cassidy, she said, opposed President Ronald Reagan "in the past and was actually a supporter of Mary Landrieu until recent years. He voted to raise the debt ceiling, was one of 19 Republicans to vote for President Obama's hate crimes legislation, campaigned in support of the government bailout (but now opposes it), voted for Obamacare Medicare savings (but now opposes them)."

Palin has had mixed results in getting candidates she endorsed to the finish line. She was instrumental in getting conservative Republican Ted Cruz elected to the Senate in Texas in 2012.

Some suggest that Palin, who has been
out of public office since she left the Alaska governor's office July 26, 2009,
17 months before the end of her first term, doesn't carry as much political clout
as she did only a few years ago.

Last month in Florida, Lizbeth
Benacquisto, whom Palin endorsed in a special House Republican primary, lost.
In March, Katrina Pierson, a tea party favorite whom Palin backed in Texas,
lost a GOP primary to incumbent Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Tex. Palin also backed insurgent Taylor Griffin in
Tuesday's North Carolina House Republican primary, which was won, narrowly, by long-term incumbent Walter Jones.

But it's hard to see any down side from the Palin endorsement for Maness. He's been running far behind both Landrieu and Cassidy in recent polls and, if nothing else, Palin's endorsement should help him with fund-raising and get him noticed by conservative Louisiana voters.

Brian Brox, a political scientist at
Tulane University, calls Palin's endorsement significant for two reasons.

"First, it will generate media coverage,
and for an outsider candidate taking on establishment candidates, any coverage
that can help raise name recognition is important," Brox said. "Second, Palin's
endorsement will alert her many followers that Maness is someone who deserves
their support. Maness will likely
leverage this endorsement for fundraising, so it will be interesting to see if
Palin and her followers will turn this rhetorical support for Maness into
financial support."

Maness, who has generated little traction so far as he ran as the "true conservative" in the race, clearly was delighted with the Palin endorsement.

In 2008, Cassidy praised Republican Sen. John McCain's
surprise selection of Palin to be his running mate in the presidential race
against Democrat Barack Obama.

"Governor Palin has stood up to Congress and refused wasteful earmarks
sent to her state, like the infamous 'bridge to nowhere.' She has challenged politicians,
even within our party whose unethical behavior and coziness with special
interests didn't reflect the proper role of a public servant," Cassidy wrote on his campaign website.